Miracles Can Happen
by Margaret Luna Sullivan
Summary: Adopted from Terri Granger, which is why parts may seem familiar. Basically, Mitch survives the tumour, Rose has an attitude adjustment, Victoria is unconditionally supportive of everyone, and various other things happen. Obviously massively AU. Rated for safety, and occasional foul language
1. Preparation

**Chapter 1: Preparation**

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I don't own All Saints, Channel 7 does. This is my version of Mitch's brain tumour, because I believe in happy endings. Rose won't die, either, although she will have a major change in attitude, due to better monitored medication, counseling and family support, and the occasional dose of much-needed discipline.

And yes, this is massively AU. Sue me. Actually, don't. That was sarcastic.

Also know that this fic is going to take many twists and turns, I do not know what will happen from one chapter to the next, and this fic is highly likely to include corporal punishment of children, teens and adults, in later chapters. Spanking in other words. If you don't like that prospect, then don't read it.

One more thing: Apart from the first scenes, this first chapter is full of a jumbled version of the history of All Saints, up until Mitch's operation. No doubt many of the events are not exactly as they were during the series, but that is because this is being written from memory, not with an available copy of the series, and because a lot of it is being filtered through the eyes of the author. Chapter two will start the original material.

End Author notes.

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**Preparation**

"It's a bad idea. You know that. The tumor's in a really bad position, the survival rate if you go ahead with the operation is almost nil…." He allowed the voice of surgeon Luke Forlano to drone on. Mitchell Stevens already knew everything he was being told, but the operation was his only chance at living beyond the end of this year, and he fully intended to take it. He was recently married to a woman he adored, and he had the most beautiful three year old daughter to take care of. He had everything to live for. A chance, however slim, had come along, and by God ('Sorry, Terri.' He muttered mentally) he was going to bloody well take it.

"I know, Scalpel Man. But it's my only hope, you know that too. I'm not dying right now, not when I've got everything to live for. I intend to stick around for Lucy and Terri, and you'd bloody well better help me!" Luke just smiled, wryly. "Of course I'll help you, you insufferable physician." He retorted. "But you have to be informed of all the possible things that might happen, before you can give informed consent. You know that too, Stevens." Mitch frowned. "You'd better add a Doctor to that, Scalpel Man. Terri's the only one who gets to call me Stevens, and that's because she's the boss!" Luke smirked. No matter what his Scottish colleague said, it was obvious who wore the pants in THAT relationship. Then again, as Ward 17's Nursing Unit Manager, Mitch's wife, Therese 'Terri' Sullivan, was in charge of the ward, and was almost technically their boss when they were on her ward.

Luke laughed. "Alright, _Doctor_ Stevens, even though you've been removed from the rosters because of this stupid tumour. I can't wait until you get your job back, you're being a bloody pain right now, and even Terri's noticed." Mitch grimaced. "Too right, she's noticed. I'm a little concerned about that. If I hear one more threat about 'beating it out of me' I think I'll go bananas. I wish she'd just hurry up and follow through on it already." Mitch looked up, uneasy, as Luke drew in a sharp breath. "And she's standing right behind me, isn't she?" He trailed off. Luke nodded, grimacing. "Hi, Sullivan," Mitch added, sheepishly. Luke's uneasy "Hi, Terri" echoed him. "Hi, yourself, Stevens, relax, Luke" Terri replied, rolling her eyes at the second doctor. Luke just rolled his eyes right back at her, before standing up again.

"I'll see you two later. Go easy on him, Terri; this whole situation is driving him batty. And that's without counting the 'Rose' issue." "Don't I know it?" Terri replied, with a strangled laugh. "Victoria's trying to be a buffer between me and Rose, but it's not really working. I'll explain later, since Mitch here doesn't need the stress." Mitch looked slightly disgruntled. "I'm not a bloody invalid, Sullivan! My brain's not about to explode!" "Could've fooled me," his wife of two weeks replied, winking at Luke. She knew it wasn't really fair, but stirring up Mitch was so much fun. And it was a little bit of harmless payback for the months of stirring he had done before she left the Order.

Mitch laughed. The pair had always gotten on well, despite one little 'bobble' in their relationship. (Okay, so overreacting to a phobia of violent or aggressive drunks isn't exactly a 'little bobble' and nor is the ten year separation which followed the phobia kicking in, but that was how Mitch preferred to think about it, especially as they had agreed that it was all in the past now, after what Von had accurately referred as the 'cold war'.) Still, he didn't mind getting stirred a bit. He'd certainly done his fair share of stirring, and plus, he probably deserved it. Someone needed to puncture his ego sometimes, and at least his wife was more tactful about it that Von normally was. Von would just speak her mind; Terri would at least try to make it sound less offensive. Not that he was really complaining. Mitch truly liked Von's acidic humour, as long as it wasn't being aimed at him.

"And any more trouble out of you, Mister, and I won't even bother with threats," Terri had informed him, before smirking at the half scared, half speculative look on his face. "I wouldn't look so pleased if I were you. It would be painfully easy to wipe that smirk off your face, if it sticks around for too long." Terri warned, before relenting. "I know. It's really not fair of me to issue so many threats and never follow through on them. I had originally intended to cut you a little more slack than normal because of the multiple stresses we were dealing with, but I'm beginning to recognize that I may have made a major error of judgement. I don't like empty threats either."

Mitch smiled. "I'm sorry, Sullivan. I know I'm being a pain. I'm just really sick of this stupid tumour screwing with my brain and my behaviour, and Rose isn't making anyone's life easy." He hesitated, before deciding to plough ahead anyway, "and as much as I appreciate it, I'm not exactly enamoured of your well-intentioned over-protectiveness, either, my dear. I could just as easily turn any of those threats back on you, if I thought it was necessary."

"Now _there's_ the man I know and adore," Terri laughed, mussing his hair. "Welcome back, we've missed you. Now all we need to do is get you through this operation, and we can get back to living our lives. And maybe Rose'll come around, time will tell. At least Victoria's on our side again, now." Mitch nodded, grimacing. He remembered only too well the brief few horrible months when his mother-in-law had sided with his ex-wife. That had been after the Ebola scare, and probably wouldn't have happened if Lucy's toy rabbit, Thumper, hadn't been on the same bedside table as Terri's name badge. When Mitch pulled the rabbit into a bag of toys, it dragged the badge with it. Victoria might not have found it if she hadn't tripped down the steps. So Victoria had been mad at him and by extension at Terri, for a short time. (Well, if it hadn't been for the Ebola scare, Terri's name badge wouldn't have been there. The scare was what had forced them both to admit that they might not always be there for each other, and that the time they had was precious. Since Mitch and Rose had already broken up, they had felt it was OK for them to start their relationship again, and they had slept together for the first time in ten years. Unfortunately, Victoria had massively overreacted to the find, and had gone back to siding with Rose, for a short time. Thank God (Sorry again, Sullivan) that was over.)

Oh, the silly goose had given Terri a hard time earlier in the year, about how she could have had her pick of the doctors, so why pick a married one? Terri had handled that incredibly well, To Mitch's mind. She had patiently explained to Victoria that she hadn't picked Mitch, but when Rose started behaving weirdly, and Mitch was scared, _she_ was the one _he_ had turned to for help. As an old friend, Terri was prepared to do a lot to help him, as far as emotional support went. But she was also trying to convince him, at that point in time, that he could rebuild his relationship with Rose, and that they were simply going through a rough patch, as all relationships do. Victoria had acknowledged that Terri had a point, and had actually opened up about Rose's strange behaviour, which had culminated in Rose disappearing with Lucy. This had terrified both Victoria and Mitch, and had been the beginning of the end for Mitch and Rose's marriage.

With Rose and Lucy missing, Mitch had really turned to Terri for comfort and support. It was at this point in time that Victoria had also transferred her support from her daughter to her son-in-law. As she put it, a lot of the things Rose had been telling them had been conflicting with each other, or didn't make sense. Victoria now knew that Rose had been lying to them. Mitch suggested that this might be due to paranoia, or to Rose's bipolar disorder.

Only weeks after Rose returned to Mitch, and Mitch was thinking that everything was going smoothly; Mitch left the hospital for home, only to be caught up in a traffic accident, and forced t return to the hospital with patients. Rose was becoming impatient for her husband, and had telephoned the hospital several times; finally becoming a cross between abusive and slightly hysterical towards Terri, due to the assumption that Mitch was at the hospital because he was with Terri.

It was when in response to Terri asking if Rose had taken something that Rose replied "maybe I have. I bet you hope it works." that Terri knew something was seriously wrong. She immediately went around to the house Mitch and Rose shared, which had originally been Mitch's home, to make sure Rose was alright. By the time Terri got there, Rose was near death, having taken a massive overdose of sleeping tablets. Terri barely managed to save Rose's life, but Rose wasn't terribly appreciative, no matter what she said. The way she treated her then husband, for Mitch wouldn't divorce her for a few months yet, was indicative of that. She had become possessive and paranoid all over again, and was certain that during the time she had spent in a psychiatric facility, Mitch and Terri had started an affair. This was perhaps partly true, although it had started as Terri supporting Mitch through a bad time.

When the soul mates had started tentatively dating again, Mitch was prepared to tell Rose. However Rose seemed so optimistic the day he intended to tell her that he allowed himself to put it off, until the next time they spoke, at which point Rose was preparing to leave the psychiatric facility. Oddly enough, it was Rose who stated that she felt their marriage had no future, and Mitch only needed to agree. Perhaps this is why Victoria accused him of lying to her and Rose, although he never actually lied. He just failed to tell them something.

Of course, Rose's increasingly erratic behaviour, even after the couple had divorced, had brought Victoria back to Mitch's side, especially when Rose claimed that Lucy wasn't Mitch's daughter. At the time, Terri and Mitch were having a time apart from each other, to try and smooth the divorce process, but when Rose claimed that Lucy wasn't Mitch's daughter, that inevitably drove the soul mates back together. Again this was all due to Victoria's unfortunate find. Rose attempted to gain full custody of Lucy, using Mitch and Terri's supposed living arrangements as cause. Mitch instinctively countered, going for full custody himself. Rose assumed this was due to her bipolar disorder, and that he was using it against her. So, the vindictive little cow decided to try and prove that Lucy wasn't Mitch's child.

Mitch had insisted on a paternity test, but had backed out at the last second, after seeing Lucy playing n the waiting room. According to him, blood type didn't count. He was the one who had fed Lucy, bathed her and so on. Everyone agreed that was all that mattered. Mitch and Rose shared custody of Lucy, with the three year old spending two weekends each month with her father. Mitch's attempt to gain sole custody was in response to Rose's refusing him access to the child. When they had discussed it, Terri had said that Rose had only missed two visits. Mitch had replied that two weekends per month just wasn't enough time for him to spend with his little princess, not when he couldn't trust Rose to show up. Terri had agreed, but had said that as long as she was in the picture, Rose would make difficulties. The pair had agreed to a short-term separation, but after Rose's paternity claims, a few days later, the separation ended, as Mitch and Terri couldn't cope without each other.

So that was about it. That was everything important, up until this point. Now it was a waiting game. Waiting while tests were run. Waiting while preparations were made. Waiting for the operation to take place. During the operation, waiting for news. Waiting for Mitch to come out of the anaesthetic. Waiting while Mitch went through the long process of recovery. Waiting to get their lives back in order. Waiting, waiting waiting. At that point in time, to Mitch and Terri Stevens, the waiting seemed endless.

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AN: Just so's you know, the next chapter says pretty much the same thing, but in a lot more detail, and covering a lot more episodes of the original Canon All Saints season 5 and start of season 6, from Terri's viewpoint. After that, we get into the actual operation.


	2. The Tumour

I don't own All Saints. Channel 7 does.

This is a summary of the episodes from late in season five, until Separation Pains. This is fairly Canon. It goes majorly AU as of Only The Good Die Young. The Last Supper, the episode in between, is half canon, half AU. I know Canon has Mitch die. I don't believe in it. So I'm not letting him die.

This fic is dedicated to Mitchell Hamish Stevens and Therese Eileen Sullivan. The sweetest couple All Saints ever produced. At least, I think so.

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The Tumour

First it was hearing problems. Just little things, here and there. Having to repeat myself, hearing other repeat themselves, hearing him say the completely wrong thing. I thought it was just after-effects of the shooting. He'd gotten a head wound, his hearing had started being stupid. I thought they were connected. Then it was vision issues. Those couldn't be blamed on the graze from the shooting. That's the only explanation for the heparin overdose.

And then he just grabbed hold of a strange woman, telling her off about being off her medication. Twice now, apparently, he's done it... Although, come to think of it, I did see one incident, and I swear to God—which incidentally is not something I do lightly, or at all for that matter— that she could have been his ex-wife's identical twin... from a distance, anyway. Weirdly enough, her name's Collette Pullman.. And Rose had been at St Angela's all day.

And now he's drinking WAY too much. And he's turned violent. Well, only once, actually. I think lashing out at me shocked him back into soberness. He's having phase-outs, apparently, too. Going vague, not able to string two words together. And then he gets mad. Mad and violent. It's actually scary, how he gets so mad and so violent. Or he's doing very weird things. He's losing his inhibitions, he's not paying attention to stuff properly. He says he can't control himself. He's sworn off drink forever.

He's scared. Really scared. He wants to know if he's going mad. I don't think so. So now we're having tests run. They've found a large space occupying lesion. The specialist wants to run tests. He wants to know what he's dealing with before he makes any decisions, before he takes any risks. I asked why he wasn't going to just go straight in, do a direct biopsy. He could debulk the thing while he was at it. But the specialist isn't willing to.

He can't control his behaviour, or his mood swings. I'm scared for him. Yes, FOR him, even though people seem to think I should be scared OF him. I'm waiting now, with him. Charlotte's going to come over, the Ward's sent her. She'll bring some sedation. He's cut himself pretty badly, too. He's not worried about that, though. Although he's joking about being scared because Luke Forlano's doing his biopsy... Well, I think he's joking. Although I'm not sure it's something to be joking over.

"And now we wait", he's just said. I've just told him it'll be good news. He gave me a sceptical look. I think he saw through it, He might be wondering who I'm trying to convince. I know I am. Luke's here now, and he's got bad news. "Shithouse" Mitch called it. The tumours huge, and inoperable. He's too exhausted to think about what to do, but he told me to keep planning. Planning's good, apparently. He's also cracking wise about staying awake. Apparently he doesn't want to miss a minute of the action on the Ward. Personally, I'd miss several hours of it to have him back safe.

He's terrified to hurt me, he doesn't want to come home. Now he's begging for the operation. He isn't thinking it through, he just wants the most radical option available. And meanwhile, my nurses are dating my doctors. Paula bought Luke flowers, so Luke bought Paula a rabbit for Max. "Bugs" is adorable. Paula gushes over him.

Von wants me to talk to Mitch. I'm talking to all the experts, and none of them are telling me what I want to hear. Charlotte's not hearing what she wanted to, either. One of her neighbour's kids climbed the fence, and one of Charlotte's dogs protected the property. Poor Elvis is getting put down because of that, like it's Charlotte's fault. The mother shouldn't have taken her eyes off the kid.

Apparently if I stay home with him all day, he then has to entertain me. He just walked straight into the ED, apparently, but kept on stopping and being disorientated. And then he wanders into the hospital, claiming he needs to sort out paperwork, and starts treating the bloody patients. I know it's just because he feels useless at home. I know he's scared and he's feeling helpless. Like poor Luke's dad. He can't drive, so now he feels his whole life is over. Luke wants to know who'll keep him in line, if Sal's not there. Sometimes I wonder the same thing. Far more often I wonder who'll keep ME in line if Mitch isn't there.

Now he's talking to John Madsen. He wants to know what John would do. Of course, I know perfectly well what John'll tell him. "Nothing. I wouldn't trust such a delicate operation to anyone else." And John's not boasting or being proud or anything. He's really talented, he can pull off miracles. He often has. The question now is, can he pull off this one? And if Mitch lives through the operation, will he live through the recovery period?

I planned it in secret. We were supposed to have had all the time in the world, to be able to plan it properly and to truly enjoy it. At least Paul will be there, and Von's agreed to stand with me. It's going to start off kind of as a picnic, on the cliffs near the hospital. It was so beautiful and romantic. We ended up turning what was supposed to have been a housewarming party into a wedding reception, too. We have the greatest friends.

I had to help him fill out the admittance forms for the operation. I also had to help him answer the nurse's questions. Poor Mitch kept looking at me for the answers, or going 'um...er...' until the nurse asked me instead. They gave him a gown to change into, but I had to help with that as well. Von said he was fretting about the tumour being God's revenge on him for corrupting me, or something like that. I fully agreed with Von's acidic reply that God has better things to do with his time than mess up our lives.


	3. The Operation

Warnings, A/Ns etc in previous chapters, or in future chapters. The original version of this was radically different to what Im posting. When I adopted this fic from Terri Granger, we discussed our visions for the fic, and where we wanted it to go. So that's why it may seem familiar. She granted me permission to repost the chapters unedited, or to edit them as I wished. I've played around with the ones I wasn't totally satisfied with, and left the ones I thought were fine. This was Terri Granger's original chapter 2, so chapter 2 of this version of the fic is my work. Parts of chapters3 and 4 are mine, also. From chapter five on, it's all my work. Constructive criticism is appreciated, flames will be used to power electric blankets and roast marshmallows, sausages and onions.

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The Operation

"Bye-bye, Daddy. Love you" Lucy Stevens' three year old voice followed the gurney down the corridor from pre-op to the operating theatre. Her father, Mitchell, was already asleep, under the effects of the general anaesthetic which had been administered about ten minutes previously. Held loosely in the crook of his right arm was Thumper, Lucy's toy rabbit. His wife of less than a month, Therese Sullivan-Stevens, held his left hand, her free hand stroking the top of his recently shaved head.

Of course, shaving Mitch's head was all part of the preparation for the extremely risky brain surgery the much loved Medical Registrar was about to undergo. He had a tumour in a really tricky part of his brain, and it wasn't certain if he'd live through the operation, or the dangerous few days immediately after it. What was certain, however, was that without the operation he'd be dead in less than a year, and Mitch wasn't prepared to take that risk. For the determined doctor, it was all or nothing.

Terri supported his decision, although it caused her great pain to do so. The survival rate for the operation Mitch was about to undergo was almost nil. On the other hand, if Mitch was one of the lucky few who did survive, he would be completely cured. Mitch felt the risk was worth taking, and Terri's rational mind told her he was right, even though her emotional mind was fighting desperately hard for him not to have the operation. But Mitch, like that Andy girl, was an all-or-nothing type, and could not stand living what he felt was a half-life, for he did not know how ling.

The hospital's neurosurgeon, John Matheson, had promised Terri that Mitch was in the best possible hands, and Luke was assisting the operation. When Terri released Mitch's hand at the swinging door to the operating room, Luke hugged her, hard. "If it's at all possible, we'll bring him back to you. I promise." He murmured, squeezing her hands gently. Terri nodded, shivering slightly.

"I know, Luke. That's why we trust you both with this. I'm just really scared. I can't lose him. We need each other so much; we've wasted so many years and..." She trailed off, not sure of what to say. Luke patted her shoulder one more time, before hurrying to join his colleagues in the theatre. John came outside for a few moments, just long enough to hug Terri and greet Mitch's ex-wife, Rose, and Rose's mother, Victoria. "He's in the best possible hands. We'll do absolutely everything we can for him; we're pulling out all the stops." He said, quietly.

Victoria acknowledged this sentiment, gratefully. She was holding her granddaughter, since Rose looked like she wanted to punch a wall or something, and Terri had taken to pacing restlessly. "You're pulling out all the stops for stupid _fucking _**Terri**, don't you mean?" Rose snapped angrily. "Even that bastard Mitch is. If it had been _**me**_ he was married to, he wouldn't be fighting so hard to live." Victoria stared at her daughter in shock. "What is wrong with you, Rosemary Carleton? It doesn't matter WHO Mitch is married to, he is pulling out all the stops for _**all**_ the people he loves, and that includes your daughter, young lady." Really, there was only so much slack Rose could be cut due to the bipolar, and she had just pole-vaulted over all lines of acceptable behaviour. "As for your last comment, if this is your attitude towards this situation, I'm not sure I'd blame him if he had decided to give up on living. He wouldn't though. He adores Lucy too much."

Terri shot Victoria a small, grateful smile. She had hoped that, just this once, in the face of everything they were collectively going through, Rose could suspend hostilities, at least long enough to support the man they all loved. Obviously she was wrong, but the knowledge still really hurt, especially as she and Rose had been good friends before Terri introduced Rose to Mitch, who was another of Terri's good friends. From the moment the couple started dating; Rose had resented Terri's presence in their life. But Mitch needed his close friend, and Terri really needed Mitch, especially after everything that had happened with Neil Phillips,

Victoria had acted as a buffer between the two feuding women, as best as she could. That wasn't very easy, however. Well, Rose was making it difficult. Terri usually went out of her way to be easy to deal with, and to be pleasant to be around. A lot of Rose's moodiness could be put down to her mental condition, and the poorly handled medication situation, but it didn't excuse her vindictive nature, or the fits of jealously she was prone to.

The more Victoria observed the interaction between the two women, the less she believed Rose that Terri was responsible for Rose and Mitch's divorce. Victoria was starting to see the truth. OK, so Mitch and Terri were still friends. That was really great, especially given their long history. And everyone deserves to have friends outside of their immediate relationships, no matter who they are. But even if Mitch and Terri _were_ still in love, Victoria was beginning to see that it was Rose's vindictive and possessive personality issues, and her poor handling of her psychiatric condition, which had caused the divorce.

Rose's cruel behaviour towards Terri, far from driving Mitch away from his once long-term sweetheart (and still close friend), had drawn the pair closer together, strengthening their friendship.. Ryan Sullivan had NOT approved, referring to Mitch's supportive behaviour towards his daughter as the young doctor "sniffing around". This idea was ridiculous, at the time. Mitch was a faithfully, if not happily, married man, who adored his infant daughter, and was doing his absolute best to love his difficult, oft prickly wife.

And speaking of extra-marital, or post marital, friendships, Mitch and Terri both accepted Malcolm Pussle. Terri had dated him for a short period of time, but it hadn't really worked out. Terri was just too far in love with Mitch, and terrified of doing anything that could be considered 'cheating' on her one _true_ love, to do anything more than kiss. Malcolm was looking for more commitment, and although Terri was finally able to give it, that had lasted only a couple of months, before a new job offer had transferred him overseas. When he came back, however, he had struck up a friendship with Rose. Mitch accepted that. Terri wasn't being difficult about it; in fact she was being openly civil, even friendly, to both Rose and Malcolm. But Rose just couldn't accept that. Obviously, she was just desperate for any reason at all to be hostile towards the stepmother of her young daughter.

Inside the operating theatre it was a case 'of all hands on deck'. Everyone was working hard on this case, everyone was eager to help save the popular and much loved physician. Mitch Stevens had often been referred to as a non-surgical Hawkeye Pierce, and now Luke fell into the role of his surgical counterpart, even down to a muttered "live, dammit, Stevens! That's an ORDER!" This comment drew a half-hearted smirk from one of the scrub-nurses.

While in the theatre, all was frantic action, outside in the corridor the only action was Terri's relentless pacing. Victoria was trying to read to Lucy, but was having obvious difficulty concentrating. She dearly loved her young son-in-law, and the prospect of him dying terrified her. Rose had walked off several minute ago, and would hopefully return in a better mood, soon. One part of Victoria was desperate for news, the other part was certain that no news was good news. Terri was pacing up and down the corridor, muttering "don't you dare leave me, Mitchell Hamish Stevens! Live, damn you, live," over and over.

Victoria looked up. "It's a pity he can't hear you, Terri. Would you please come and sit down before you make poor Lucy dizzy?" Terri looked up, before smiling sadly. "I can't. I'm scared if I sit down I'm going to go to pieces. I think that would scare Lucy more. Where's Rose gone?" "Coffee break, I think. It seems strange that people need such normal things as coffee, when lives are at stake. It seems strange that people can actually focus on coffee." Terri just nodded. Coffee held no interest whatsoever to either of the women in that lonely corridor. Both were far too miserable, and too worried, to consider such pedestrian things as coffee.

At that moment, a scrub nurse steeped out of the theatre. "So far, so good, Terri, Mrs Carleton. The patient is behaving himself beautifully." This comment was greeted by a small, half-hearted snort from Victoria. "Is that even possible when under general anaesthetic?" Terri frowned slightly at the older woman, before shooting several questions about vital signs and progress at the younger nurse. Her replies seemed to lift Terri's spirits.

"We're being cautiously optimistic. They found the tumour much more easily than we could possibly have expected, but it wasn't as big as we had feared, and is still fully encapsulated. They're working on removing it now, but it's very much a case of 'slow and steady wins the race', so we'll keep you updated as often as we can, but we can't afford to take too many breaks, in case we're needed.

Terri nodded. "Of course not. Luke will go nuts if we lose this one. I think he still feels responsible for Sophie, even though there was really nothing he could have done. I KNOW he still feels responsible for Bob. Professor Craig didn't even try to save the man. Luke said Craig did everything by the book, but that he didn't even care about the patient. He nicked an artery, and just gave up on the case. Luke says he doubted they could have saved Bob, but it would have been better if the surgeon had given a damn about the patient."

The other nurse nodded. "Yes, I remember that. The scrub nurse on with Dr Forlano for Mrs Williams' operation is still sometimes giving him a hard time about his mortality rate." Terri nodded. "I know. Luke complains about it, occasionally. Besides, no matter how much he pretends not to be, I think Luke is rather fond of his current patient." She smiled sadly, before adding, "I know Mitch gives Luke a hard time, sometimes, but he doesn't give colleagues nicknames unless he really respects them. And no matter how hard a time he gives Luke, he always speaks highly of 'Scalpel Man'. He's even started actively recommending surgery in some cases. I watched Luke the first time that happened, he kept digging in his ears. When I asked him why, he replied that he wanted to check for earwax, as he was sure he was hearing wrong. Mitch Stevens never advocates surgery over medicine."

Victoria actually laughed at that. "Why does it take life-threatening surgery before the anecdotes come out, young lady? I enjoy hearing about life on the ward, now that I'm not giving anyone a hard time," she admonished. Terri gave her a weak smile. "They never seem to come up, do they? I'm surprised Mitch hasn't told you any of those things himself, you know. He was there for all of them. Rose was on the scene for a fair few, as well. I'm surprised she didn't mention them, even if it was only to complain about how it was me Mitch went to for advice, instead of her, and how it was me he turned to for support when a patient he was deeply involved with went and died, rather than her."

"Rose told me all of those things. However, since everything that's happened, I have to question just how much of what Rose told me was true, and how much was petty jealousy. At least when I get stories from you and Mitch, they're more likely to be accurate accountings of what happened, with only a little personal bias thrown in. Rose seems to have a problem with someone called 'Von' as well. She complained about 'Von' almost as much as she complained about '(insert any given expletive) TERRI' and that was a LOT. It didn't help that if Mitch was on the scene at the time, he would try to give me his version of events, and he always tried to defend you. At first, that made me agree with Rose. Now I see that he was just defending you against Rose's cruel words, trying to give me a more accurate view of one of his friends. The odd thing is, HE never attacked any of Rose's friends as vindictively as she attacked you."

"I don't think Rose was still in love with any of her friends, even anyone she'd known before she knew Mitch. Mitch says he came back purely to see me. That was why he took a job at All Saints. He thought nothing had changed. Heck was he wrong. Procedures may not have changed, for the most part, but he seemed shocked by just how assertive the nurses are these days, amongst other things." Victoria smiled.

"As for Von," Terri continued, "I don't really understand what Rose has against Yvonne Ryan. Everyone calls her Von, by the way. Sure, Von supports Mitch and I a lot, but whenever Rose had a valid point, Von supported her. Von has an acidic sense of humour, a sharp tongue and possibly an even sharper wit. Admittedly Rose has been on the receiving end a lot, but so has everyone else who ever crosses Von's path. Mitch got a serious bollocking for letting himself almost fall into a bottle after I miscarried last year. I think the only time Rose spoke to me in a civil manner since she married Mitch was when she extended her condolences to us about me losing the baby.

Hell, Von's even given ME what-for, if I genuinely deserved it. That's just Von's way. She's bluntly honest." Victoria laughed this time. "I think I like Von. She's the white-blonde EN on your ward, right? I've watched her with the patients; she's really good with them, even if she doesn't have any patience for people with bad attitudes or sloppy work, amongst other things. She seems to like common sense a lot. I respect her." This drew a small smile from Terri. "Yes, that's Von exactly. I'm glad you've been able to form your own opinion of her. She deserves a chance. You gave _**me**_ one." Victoria smiled. "Indeed I did. You proved to me that you deserved it, eventually. At first I was being civil to humour Mitch." Terri just nodded. "Yeah, I know. I'm just glad you listened to him long enough to give me a chance to prove to you that I deserved a chance. That's all I'm asking you to give Von." Victoria nodded. "I can do that. I liked what I saw of Von already."

Terri seemed a little calmer at this point, but as the swinging doors to the theatre opened again, she started pacing, fretting again. The scrub nurse who was approaching the two women smiled at them. "Good news, you two. He's doing really well, and the tumours almost completely out, although we're removing it slowly, because it's gone and wrapped itself around a rather delicate area." Terri looked horrified. "Is he going to be alright?" "So far, so good, Terri. One more section of the tumour to go, and then the surgeons just want to check for any unexpected problems, before closing up. After that, it's all up to Dr Stevens."

Victoria looked delighted. Terri slumped into the wall, limply. She looked in shock. Rose chose this moment to return. "So, any news? If he's gone and died, then we'll just clear all of Lucy's stuff out of your place, because without Mitch there, you've got no claim to _**my**_ daughter, and I don't want you corrupting her." This last part was aimed at Terri, who winced. Victoria crossed the corridor in two strides and smacked Rose, hard.

"Rosemary Katharine Carleton, I'm disgusted with you! How DARE you speak to someone like that? Especially someone who has become so close to the daughter you profess to love. Without Mitch, IF he doesn't pull through, Terri is the only link Lucy has to the Daddy she adores, and we are NOT depriving them of contact. Terri, far from corrupting Lucy has been a stabilising force in that little girl's life. To suddenly remove that force would corrupt her far more than allowing it to remain."

Rose scowled. "So what? Why should I care what that stupid _**BITCH**_ wants? She stole my husband, and you know it! Go ahead, have a cry, you pathetic lump of..." Rose didn't even get a chance to finish this latest sentiment towards an openly sobbing Terri, as Victoria had grabbed her by one arm and pulled her into a different room, closing the door. "Mum? What on earth are you doing?" Rose had now decided to pay attention to the situation. Victoria had lead Rose over to an empty corner, and had ordered her to plant her nose in it.

"I am thoroughly sick of your attitude, of your behaviour towards Mitch, and especially of your behaviour towards poor Terri. It's not Terri's fault Mitch was in love with her, and you knew perfectly well, you have known all along, that while Mitch was growing very fond of you, he married you because the woman he was in love with wasn't available. You knew that from the outset, so stop victimising Terri because you're not happy with your situation. You can just stand there and think about your behaviour until you are ready to behave in a civilised manner, is that understood?" Victoria lectured, emphasising the more important words with sharp swats. "Yeah, yeah, whatever" Rose replied mutinously, rolling her eyes. The intended effect of this was spoiled by the fact said eyes were dampened and slightly red-rimmed. Fortunately for her, Victoria either didn't notice, or chose to ignore this behaviour.

"You'd better take this seriously, young lady, and use this as an opportunity to improve your attitude, because if I have to do this again, I am going to reintroduce your bare bottom to the back of my hairbrush!" Now _that_ threat had teeth. Rose shifted uncomfortably, twisting the hem of her skirt nervously between her fingers, only to be ordered to stand still, hands by her sides. The order was reinforced by six further sharp swats, before Rose was informed that she was not to show her face again for at least a half hour, unless Victoria came to get her for some reason. If she could be civil after that, then she was welcome to join the others in the corridor.

I won't attempt to document what went through Rose's mind in that empty corner, simply because I have no idea. I do know, however, that she spent most of the original half hour fuming at the injustice of her situation, then cursing Terri for stealing Mitch. After a while, however, these thoughts started to lose their appeal, and Rose found herself contemplating the join between the two walls, and the walls themselves with some seriousness. From there, she started contemplating compartments and boxes, like the one it sorta felt like she'd been stuck in. After that, came the effect of sticking other people in boxes, or making assumptions about other people based on limited perceptions. Literally, or figuratively, in the case of the 'boxing'. And some time after that, she found herself contemplating the rest of her life with some seriousness as well, beginning with the day Mitch had proposed to her.

Rose didn't like the conclusions she finally came to very much, but could not deny they were true. Mitch HAD told her that there was someone else, and that the other person was still around. He had also said they were no longer available. She was forced, now, to confront the one issue they hadn't talked about: what would happen if his original choice DID become available? And from there, Rose found herself contemplating what might have happened, if certain people had been in certain places, at certain times. She found herself re-evaluating, or beginning to re-evaluate, her judgement of other people. Some other people in particular. She didn't really like what she was seeing, or what she was thinking, very much. And she REALLY didn't like not liking it.

Eventually, Rose stopped trying to think about deep, major life issues, and forced herself to return to contemplating the walls. She was soon tracing one of the patterns in the wallpaper near her nose, (and either unaware of, or uncaring about, the tear-tracks running down her face, and the three or four tears sitting on the edges of various eyelashes) which was how Victoria found her, about ten minutes later. (Say about an hour after being deposited in the corner)

"Hopefully THAT'S improved your attitude a bit, my dear. Although I'd love to know what's so fascinating about that pattern." Victoria said, quietly. The main reason she had spoken was to prevent Rose from getting too big a scare when someone approached her. She was clearly trying to be stern at first, before relenting. "Uh-huh. Dunno. *sob*" Rose rather randomly replied.

"Calm down, now, Rosie." Victoria responded, rubbing the younger woman's shoulders. "I'm here, honey. The last news was that they were removing the tumour bit by bit, as it was wrapped around a tricky spot. The nurse thought they should be closing up soon, and all was going well. I'm sure Lucy wants you; she's been fretting for Daddy and Mama for some time. I can't really concentrate to read to her, and..."

"And Terri's trying to wear a rut in the corridor floor, isn't she?" This time, oddly, it was the old Rose speaking, even if it was through choky tears.. "Not entirely sure I blame her. You're right of course, about Mitch and me. I think that's probably why I was so jealous of Terri. She seemed to get everything she wanted, including the man I had thought was mine."

This time, Victoria smiled. "That's my girl. I know it's hard to accept, but I don't think you and Mitch could ever have been closer than best friends. He did love you, he still does, I think. But we both know he could never have loved you the way you wanted him to. I'm glad you've started to recognise that. I just wish I hadn't had to resort to such desperate measures to make you. I hope you don't have a relapse, mind. I'm quite sure, no matter how embarrassing it is, that being stuck in a corner is preferable to finding oneself reacquainted with the wrong side of a hairbrush. "

Rose smiled wryly, before giving in to the impulse to have a short, slightly hysterical, chuckle. "I should never have married someone else's soulmate. I see that now. Mitch and Terri are made for each other; I think that's why I'm so pissed at her sometimes. I though Mitch and I were made for each other, especially when Lucy came along and everything seemed so perfect. But of course, back then, I was back on the Lithium and my mood seemed to have straightened out a bit. I didn't take the Lithium during the pregnancy, because I was scared of what it might do to the baby, so my moods were everywhere. When I didn't take the meds, I was either massively high or massively low. When I was high, everything was perfect. During the pregnancy, I kept having nightmares about Mitch and Terri. Hell, even Terri's thoughtful baby shower present brought on nightmares. Baby massage oil should not have given me issues, but..."

"Yes, but that was your state of mind without the Lithium helping to balance the chemicals, wasn't it?" Victoria nodded, understandingly. Rose continued, "as I was saying, when I was high, everything was perfect. When I was low, I was convinced Thumper was out to steal Mitch from me. Possibly because he spent so much time playing with Lucy and the rabbit."

Victoria stared at her daughter incredulously, and then sighed. "THUMPER was out to steal Mitch from you? You really need to stay on the Lithium, for your own safety and everyone else's sanity. Remember the day you went out on the swings in the rain? That really scared everyone. I know you aren't overly fond of not being able to experience the more extreme levels of the emotional spectrum, or of feeling 'doped up' as you put it, but I think it's safer for everyone concerned if you stay on the Lithium, sweetie." Rose nodded. "I ran out of the last script, and I've been scared to go back on them because until today I was on a fairly high streak." She said, miserably.

"That's really all I remember about the swings incident, was that I was happy, and I wanted to be outside in the rain, because I love rain and I hadn't been outside on the rain in agaes. Although someone mentioned something about an idiot ambo who decided his opinion of the fact that if he were Mitch he wouldn't be putting in overtime at the hospital, he'd be joining me on the swings needed to be said in front of me. That sounded familiar, but I thought I'd dreamed it."

Victoria gave a weak laugh. "Tactless git, wasn't he? I think he got sacked a few months later. I sincerely hope he did, he gave his partner a really hard time." Rose nodded, then started giggling hysterically. "OK, on the way out, we're getting you a new prescription, and setting up for some counselling appointments," a thoroughly confused Victoria stated "These sudden mood swings can't be good for you.". Rose nodded. At least with the counselling there was support. Well, Victoria was support, but it was professional help Rose needed when things got this badly out of hand.

Rose had pulled the door open and looked out into the corridor, suddenly nervous. Lucy was playing with the book Victoria had been trying to read to her, and Terri was pacing again. She glanced up, and gave them a weak smile. "Lucy's trying to read, I think. It's a good thing; I can't really focus right now." It was Rose who answered her. "I'm not remotely surprised, Terri. I'm going to read to her, and I hope Mum doesn't join you in wearing a rut in the floor. Has there been any further news?"

Terri stopped in her tracks to stare at her apparently one-time rival in amazement for several seconds, before shaking her head, hard. "Not at this point, Rose. But from what the scrub-nurse told us last time, no news right now is the best possible news. They've probably removed the last part of the tumour, and are now checking for any possible unforseen problems, before closing up. I'm cautiously optimistic that Luke or John will come out in a few minutes and tell us that it's all up to Mitch now, and that while they will of course be monitoring him closely, there's not very much they can do for him unless complications develop."

It was less than ten minutes later that Luke came out of the theatre, grinning from ear to ear. "I am proud to report that our mission was successfully and safely completed." Once again, Terri stopped in her tracks, turning around slowly as though not daring to believe she'd heard right. "What was that, Luke?" "Well, Terri, Rose and Victoria, it's all up to the man of the moment now. We'll keep an eye on him, of course, but there's not a whole lot we can do for him now. We're about to take him along to recovery, you can walk with us if you want, or meet us there."

Luke then approached Lucy. "Hello, Lucy. Look who I've got." The little girl looked up from where she was 'reading', and squealed happily. "Thumper! Daddy!" "Yes, Lucy. I think your Daddy's going to be OK, now. Do you want to ride with him, we're taking him into a different room where he can wake up, so you'll need to be quiet for a while." Lucy nodded enthusiastically.

Terri had sunk to the floor, crying hysterically. She had expected maybe Victoria or Luke to attempt to comfort her, so it came as a shock to find short blonde hair in front of her face instead. "I know. It always seems as though he's completely invincible, until something like this comes along. It's been a bad couple of hours, hasn't it?" Terri nodded, before looking up suddenly. "What brought on the change of attitude?"

Rose smiled, wryly. "Kinda surprising what spending an hour contemplating the join between two walls will do for a person's perspective on all things in life, isn't it?. I've been letting my obsessions dictate the Bipolar, and neglecting my meds. Also, despite having had fair warning of it, I've always resented that you had the love I thought I deserved from my husband. I should have realised you two were soulmates, from the start, it would have saved us all a lot of trouble, since most of our issues came from my petty jealousy of the fact that MY man was spending so much time with ANOTHER woman, and the fact I assumed he was cheating on me." This time, Terri threw her head back and roared with laughter.

"Yes, I can see your point," she said finally, still giggling. "I was unable, at that time, to see myself leaving the convent, but Mitch and I were growing closer every day. We probably would have been married for ten years already if he hadn't gotten drunk after losing a young patient, and stuck his fist through a wall in our flat." Rose nodded. "Let me guess: After Ryan, any violent drunk terrifies you?" Terri grimaced. "That's just about it. Thank heaven Von made him look up the word 'Phobia' in a medical text; he might never have forgiven me for that mistake otherwise." "What mistake? It's not your fault you're terrified of violent drunks. Mitch knew Ryan even better than I did, he should have known about that phobia himself back then." Terri just agreed.


	4. After the Operation

You might have noticed, I know very little about Bipolar disorder, and am writing anything about bipolar based on what happened on All Saints, crossed with my vision for this fic. That includes Rose slowly but surely working through her issues, with the help of the hospital's psych ward, and her close family. I truly hope anyone who actually know about Bipolar, and anyone who has it, won't feel angry or offended by anything I'm writing, as I have no intention at all of offending anyone.

And yes, a lot of Mitch's speech doesn't make sense at first. That's because he's still groggy from the anaesthetic. He's going to be a bit sleepy at times, and more coherent at others during this chapter.

* * *

Road to Recovery

Luke Forlano swung the little girl he was holding up on to the gurney rolling in front of him. Lucy Stevens immediately snuggled in close to her sleeping father, Mitchell. Her stepmother, Therese Sullivan-Stevens, was walking on the other side of the gurney, holding her husband's free hand and talking quietly to John Madsen, the Neurosurgeon at All Saints Western General. John was explaining Mitch's prognosis, and what he and Luke expected from the recovery process for the popular physician.

Rosemary Carleton walked on the other side of the gurney, holding her young daughter's free hand. Rose's mother, Victoria, was walking alongside Luke, repeatedly expressing the small family's gratitude to the two surgeons who had managed to save her son-in-law's life. Luke was cautiously optimistic, but didn't dare to allow any of the group to get their hopes up too high, since the next few days would be truly dangerous. If Mitch lived through the first three days, post-op, Luke would be more willing to keep up the celebratory mood his companions seemed to be in.

"It's still not certain, Victoria. We've made excellent progress so far, but you must remember that the next few days are going to be dangerous. If he lives until the end of the week, then I'll be willing to share your high level of optimism. In the meantime, we've done our best, and you're all very welcome. I know I give him a tough time, sometimes. Well, really, he gives as good as he gets, you surely have noticed that by now. But we're all very fond of Mitch, and the hospital wouldn't be the same without him. He'll go to ICU after recovery, but if he lives to the end of the week, then he'll be transferred to 17. Von's already insisted on it, Terri was rather indignant that she didn't get the chance to!"

Victoria laughed. Yes, that sounded very much like her son-in-law's new wife. Mitch and Terri were made for each other, and Victoria had supported their relationship, despite a few bobbles. Rose was even starting to support their relationship, something which had left Terri reeling in shock from the unexpected good fortune during the first few moments, before she decided to count her blessings and not question them.

Now, Rose interrupted Terri and John's conversation to ask a few questions of her own. John looked over at her in surprise, before engaging the oft unpredictable blonde in his earlier conversation with Terri. The sudden change in Rose's attitude had surprised all who had experienced it, and now John felt the need to make a joke about said change. "I must say, Rose, I never thought I'd see the day you and Terri would get on well again, after you married Mitch. However, if your new-found civility gives my patient a heart attack, I will kill you both!" Rose seriously considered throwing her head back and laughing, but Luke had told Lucy she would need to stay quiet on the way to recovery, and in recovery, so Rose decided she had to be quiet too. She settled for giggling instead.

Terri just shot the Neurosurgeon a frustrated look. "Must you make jokes about issues like that, John? It's not remotely funny, and you know it!" She did smile, though. "You've just brought him back from the brink of death and now you want to make threats about shoving us over? I thought doctors were supposed to swear to 'first do no harm'!"

John laughed, quietly. "We are, and we do. However, I don't see a little well-timed revenge as 'harm'. And if you two not fighting gives Mitch a heart attack, then I think Luke and I are entitled to a little revenge, after all the hard work we went through to keep him on this mortal plane." Terri nodded, before asking, 'hard work or not, would you have trusted the case to anyone else?" "Good God, no, Terri. I'm not sure I'd've trusted my _**own**_ surgery to anyone else." Terri fought a losing battle against a fit of the giggles at that point. "Then you don't really have the right to threaten revenge. Although if anything happens to him in the next few days, I'll go nuts myself, before you get the chance to catch up with me." She added, through sputters of laughter.

Lucy was babbling away quietly to her father, presumably telling him about the book her grandmother had been trying to read to her during his operation. Rose smiled down at her daughter, before glancing across at her mother and Luke. "Thanks, Luke. I don't know what we'd've done if he hadn't made it." Luke just nodded. "The hospital needs him. I'm not sure what _we'd've_ don't if he hadn't made it. If I don't get called Scalpel Man at least once a day, I go looking for him, because it has to mean he's sick or not at work." Rose laughed. "Want to bet the first words out of his mouth are either 'Lucy, Sullivan or bugger off, Scalpel Man'?" "Not the last one, he only ever says that if he's mad at me. More likely to be 'thanks, Forlano, now where's my wife?'" Victoria laughed. Rose smiled, before looking across at Terri, who was engaged in a budget discussion with John.

The group entered the recovery ward, and were greeted by a crowd of about ten people. "Space, folks. Can't breathe. Need room." Terri mumbled, before slumping into the chair pushed towards her. Several deep breaths later, she looked up again, this time with more energy, and some annoyance. "If he lives through the week, he'll be fine. Now for heavens' sake go back to the ward, don't we have patients?" Several people grumbled, but Paula Morgan and Regina Butcher saw the sense in what Terri was saying. "Updates, regularly. Promise? We miss you both." Paula said, softly. "Of course, Paula. But I need you guys to go back to the ward, Mitch needs me, and our patients need care." Paula nodded, turning to leave. "I'll talk to you soon?" Terri nodded.

Reg was going on about how brave poor Lucy and Terri and Victoria and Rose and even Luke and John were. Oddly, Jared and Connor appeared to be trying to work out an excuse to return to the ward. Terri looked at them, sympathetically, before staring meaningfully at the rest of the group. "Yes, I'll tell him everyone sends their love. But you do know he'll kill you all if any of his patients die, even if he did have to stop working on their cases and pass them to Charlotte. Speaking of whom, what are you doing down here, Charlotte? Patients, remember? If he's still around on Sunday, he's all yours, but until then, you've got other patients, don't you?"

"Okay, okay we get the point, Terri. Could you stop being NUM of a ward and even _pretend_ to be the concerned wife for even five minutes?" No-one was entirely sure who had said that, and after the look Victoria was giving the general group, no one was going to admit to having said it. "Five minutes, you say? You should have been there in that corridor for the last few hours, then. Little miss NUM here didn't stopped pacing and muttering and fretting for more than two minutes until Luke came out and told us the operation had been successful. And that one pause was only to tell me why she couldn't sit down and stop pacing."

This time, Von spoke up. "You lot are going back up to 17. _**RIGHT NOW**_. Go on, I'll be up in a few minutes. And whoever that last idiot comment was from, you obviously haven't been around long enough to see Terri frazzled or upset about something. You're dealing with a NUM who, when upset about something becomes all business and efficiency for the duration of the crisis, and then has a nervous breakdown as soon as an excuse for paperwork comes up."

Terri stared at her for a few seconds, before abruptly shaking her head. "You know me too well, Von. Since half my bloody ward's down here, where's Nelson? I see Paula's had the sense to go back up, and Reg's followed her. Good, at least two of you have some sense of patient responsibility."

Charlotte smiled, nodding. "You've got another staff member with a sense of patient responsibility, Terri. Nelson didn't come down because, and I quote: 'Terri will kill us if the patients are left completely alone for who knows how long. We have to have a skeleton staff, minimum. I suppose I could manage alone, but I don't really want to. Hey! Where are the rest of you going? I know we're all concerned about Dr Stevens, but we do have patients here who need our care. Remember them? Sick people, lying in beds? Needing us?'"

Terri gave in to the uncontrollable urge to laugh. "Nelson knows me so well, doesn't he? Yes, I promise to send up regular updates, and yes, I'll be back tomorrow, unless they need me more wherever Mitch is. Now could you please go back up to the ward? We've got two acute care patients, and I don't remember what else. They need you lot. Recovery and ICU have a full complement of staff, we're in good hands. Our patients should be in good hands, too, but if most of my staff is down here clamouring for news about one medical registrar, then our patients are left high and dry, and that is not a tolerable situation." Various goodbyes and promises to come back down if not contacted every few hours were exchanged, before everyone except Von returned to the ward, some brave, or insane souls still muttering about control freak NUMs who don't know when to let go of work.

Terri looked like she wanted to go after them and shake them, but Von stopped her. "If they're still going on like that back up on 17, Nelson'll deal with them." She promised, before continuing, "I'm sure you want to know why I didn't go back with them. Nelson has ordered me to make you 'eat and sleep and don't worry about Mitch, because he's in qualified, capable hands,' and those where Nelson's exact words. Now we both know that's not possible, since you'll worry about him anyway, but I'm staying down here at least until Mitch goes to ICU, because someone needs to prevent you from having a panic attack every time a monitor beeps strangely."

"I'm not THAT bad, surely?" Terri giggled. The very idea of a panic attack if a monitor beeped strangely was ridiculous. At that point, however, a monitor started beeping too fast to be normal, and Terri jumped, before trying to find the monitor and work out what was wrong with it. "Sit down, would you, Terri. It's just saying that the brainwave pattern has changed. This usually happens in the time between unconsciousness and sleep, or just before waking up, everything's fine," Luke said, fighting the urge to address his brunette colleague as either Mrs Stevens or Nurse Sullivan, before turning to his patient, who was making a gagging sound. "Calm down, Mitch. I just need to remove this tube, alright? We put a tube in to breathe for you, because of the operation. You're in recovery, the operation was successful, and you'll be down here for a couple of hours, before we transfer you to ICU."

"Sul'van? Wh'rs m' w'fe?" A very groggy Mitch asked. Or, more accurately, rasped. "Calm down, Mitch. Take a few deep breaths, now the tube's gone, and then try again, why don't you?" John replied, before turning to Lucy. "Daddy's waking up right now, Lucy. He's likely to be a bit confused, and not know where he is. Don't be scared, everything's going to be OK." Lucy smiled, babbling up at the doctor, before turning back to her father. "Yook, Daddy. Thumper!" Mitch turned his head slightly, and smiled at the little girl. "Hey, Princess. Where's your mummy and Nana, shouldn't they be around somewhere? For that matter, where's my wife? Quit hovering, Scalpel Man, I'm not dying, I can take care of myself. Now, where's Terri?"

Luke and Von exchanged a look, almost smirking."Okay, so _that's_ where she learned that habit from," Luke muttered, before touching Mitch's arm to get his attention. "Calm down, Mitch. Rose and Victoria are here, they're just standing behind me. Now that you've seen Lucy, why don't you turn your head to the other side, and ignore the monitor? There's someone over there who wants to say hi to you too, you know." "'Mkay" Mitch had mumbled, shifting slightly. "Sul'van? What happened to _**you**_?" He seemed shocked at the state Terri was in. "Head hurts. Need m'rp'ne, 2 grams IV. Stat. W'l, wh't're you w'ting for?"

Terri actually laughed. "Firstly, the recovery nurse, or John or Luke has to give medication instructions, screwball. Secondly, the morphine given during the operation shouldn't have worn off by now, thirdly, your instructions are a little hard to understand when they're mumbled like that, although I think I can work it out, and finally, welcome back to the land of the living. You may have noticed you're now minus one very annoying tumour from what Luke told you?" "H'm? What did Scalpel Man say?" Mitch asked, sleepily "The operation was a complete success, they'll transfer you to ICU in a few hours, and WHEN you survive the end of the week, you're coming up to 17 where I can keep an eye on you. And no protests, mister!"

"Th'nks, Forlano. Madsen here too? Didn't think I meant that much to the place." Earned the younger doctor a cuff over the bandages from John. "You are possibly the most valuable medical registrar this hospital has, and you mean a lot to everyone," he was informed. "Are you aware that almost the entire staff of your favourite ward abandoned ship to come down and find out how you were doing? About halfway through the operation? Terri gave us a hell of a bollocking for that, although Nelson had ordered me to come down and take care of Terri." Von added.

"Tha's nice" Mitch mumbled, sleepily, patting the side of the bed. "Sit with me, Sullivan. Tell me the news." "What news? You don't think I spent most of the afternoon on the ward, when there was a perfectly good corridor that needed to have a rut worn in it, do you?" Terri retorted, slightly hysterically. Rose smiled. "Indeed. I went off for a coffee break because mum had read the same page to Lucy five times, and wasn't showing any sign of noticing. And your wife's pacing was making me dizzy." Mitch smiled, vaguely, before suddenly turning his head. Rose's words seemed to have surprised him enough to wake him up a bit.

"Hang on. Since when have you ever had a good word about Terri, Rose? Who are you, and what did you do to the mother of my daughter?" Rose laughed at that. "Absolutely nothing, Mitch. It's still me. Just had a bit of an attitude adjustment." "H'm. Th't's nice," Mitch replied, vaguely, before turning slightly. "H'lo Victoria. Should Lucy be here? Isn't it naptime for her right now?" "I think Lucy may have napped during the operation. I sincerely hope she did, otherwise she would have been bored witless. I actually paid attention to what was going on once only, and realised that during that short space of time I had read the same page to her three times." Victoria had smiled, sadly. "Now that's a sign of just how worried we were," Rose had said, laughing. "Have you ever known mum to read the same BOOK twice in a week?" "Not yet, I don't think" Mitch replied.

Victoria and Terri smiled at the former couple, before Victoria continued explaining her granddaughter's presence. "If Lucy wasn't napping at some point then I'm amazed she sat still and behaved so well, because I would have been fussy and restless. She did lean into my side at one point, so I won't be surprised if she had her nap then. The rest of the time she was babbling about daddy and mama and book and nana and sometimes even Terri. I had to tell Terri to stop pacing because she was making Lucy dizzy. Terri said if she stopped pacing she was going to have a breakdown, and that would be worse."

Luke came back over at that point, and started checking Mitch's vital signs, as well as doing a complete neurological exam. "OK, everything's fine," the young surgeon declared a few minutes later, smiling at the group, before making several notes on the chart at the end of the bed. He then pulled the chair up, and sat down to have a long talk with his colleagues. Mitch drifted in and out of sleep for a few hours, sometimes contributing more than a mumble to the conversation, sometimes just listening. He woke up again properly in time to say goodbye to Rose, Victoria and Lucy, who were heading home for the night, as well as Von, who was returning to the ward.

At that point, Luke said they were transferring him to ICU in the morning, and assuming all went well, in three days he would be back on 17, and well on the road to getting his job back. Mitch smiled. "Good. Want to work. Next case, please." He demanded, holding out one hand, as though reaching for a patient's chart. Terri handed him a novel instead. "If you think you can concentrate, read this, Stevens. You're not going back to medicine until cleared by the board, get it?" "Yeah, yeah. Now can you get the board in here so they can clear me?" Mitch replied, petulantly. "What say we wait until you can walk under your own power first?" Terri replied, stroking his face. "In the meantime, go back to sleep. I'm not going anywhere."

"M'kay. G'night, Sullivan," Mitch mumbled, turning his head to kiss her hand, before sinking back into the pillows "Thankyou, John, Luke, for everything," Terri said, softly. "I'm having trouble believing he doesn't still have the tumour, right now. I'm having trouble believing I'm going to wake up in the morning tomorrow and find him alive, I spent so much time trying to prepare for the worst that finding the exact opposite doesn't seem quite real yet. I'm probably going to have that breakdown Von was talking about earlier sometime soon; do you think you can handle that?"

"We can handle anything," Luke replied, calmly. "It does seem strange, doesn't it, realising that he's going to be there with his acidic tongue and stupid sense of humour when we wake up. I hope he doesn't make any stupid jokes about tumours or medical conditions, or treating patients again, I don't want to have to thump him so soon after such a risky and lengthy procedure. After several death threats to you lot, I don't want to be on the receiving end of one." Terri smiled, before shifting onto one side and resting her head on the pillow.

"Thanks, you two. Wake me in time for 5 Am rounds, would you?" "No. I'll wake you in time to transfer him to ICU, but you're not coming back to work at least until tomorrow afternoon, and preferably not until Friday." Luke replied, smiling. Terri grimaced at him, before deciding that responding would take too much energy, and instead putting one arm across Mitch's torso. "Alright, whatever, 'm going to sleep," she replied, slumping slightly.

Luke paused long enough to adjust the blanket, covering the sleeping couple, before turning to one of the nurses. "When doing obs on this one, try not to wake the wife. You don't want a hyperactive, fretful NUM on your hands at two AM, trust me on this," he whispered." The nurse, Cara, nodded. "OK, Dr Forlano. Congratulations to you both, by the way. We're so proud of you and so happy for you about succeeding with this one." Luke smiled. "Thanks for the support and kind words. All the pride in the world doesn't really matter to me at this point in time. I'm waiting for the first time a fully coherent Mitch calls me Scalpel Man, that's when I'll know everything's back to normal."

Cara laughed. "I remember your indignation the first few times he called you that! If anyone had told me then..." "Indeed. How do you think I'd've felt if someone had told ME that one day I'd consider it a term of endearment, let alone miss it?" Cara laughed. So did John, who then added his few cents worth. "I remember you nearly smacking him once for calling you that. When he called you that today, even if he was half asleep, you looked at him like a favoured grandson. If I didn't have to set a good example about being quiet to Lucy, I'd've been laughing hysterically at that point."

* * *

Around eight AM the next morning, Luke woke Terri, as promised. "Breakfast time, if you feel up to it. Then we'll take him up to ICU. He'll be there until Sunday morning, and assuming all goes well, Sunday evening he'll come down to 17. Your staff are fighting over who gets to take care of him." Terri started laughing slightly hysterically. The pretty brunette seemed prone to continued hysteria for the rest of the next few days, and Luke was strongly considering prescribing a sedative, at least for the next few weeks. Honestly, usually the young nurse would have been frustrated over her ward fighting about the welfare of a patient, but now she seemed to find it funny.

"Wh'ts the j'ke, Sullivan?" Mitch sounded groggy. Well, he had just woken up. Hopefully he'd become more coherent in the next few minutes. "Morning, Forlano. Don't you have patients to look after?" "Yes, I do, Mitch. And it just so happens that at this point in time, _**you**_ are one of my patients," Luke replied, shaking his head in slight amusement. "Head aches," Mitch complained, raising one arm to rub at his achy head. "Easy there, you'll disturb the bandages," Terri moved to intercept her husband's arm. "It's OK, you had an operation, remember? Luke and John have removed the tumour, and we're just about to have breakfast, before moving you to ICU, just for a few days. You'll come down to 17 on Sunday afternoon, and according to Luke, my staff are fighting over who gets to take care of you."

Mitch actually started laughing at that. "I didn't know I meant that much to them. I would've thought they'd be fighting over who DIDN'T have to take care of me!" This time, the cuff was to the back of his neck, and came from Terri. "Of course we care about you, you screwball. And I'M deciding who takes care of you, I don't want whoever nurses you abandoning their other patients to give you round the clock care." Mitch nodded. "I'll strangle anyone who does that. The other patients need to be cared for, too. That leaves only Von, you and Nelson as options, since you're the sensible ones" Terri smiled. "Yes, indeed it does."

She smiled at him again, before looking up as a trolley rattled past them. "Ah, breakfast. "Thanks, Mrs. C." The tea lady smiled at her. "Doctor Mitch is well? And you, Sister Terri? You are well too?" "Mitch is recovering very nicely from yesterdays' surgery, Mrs. C. I'm very relieved, and feeling a lot better as a result." The Eastern European lady smiled at them both, before placing two trays on the swinging table and rattling on her way, with a promise to deliver messages of progress, love and wellbeing to Ward 17 when she got up there.

Terri had needed to help Mitch with a lot of the breakfast. Mitch couldn't work out how to open some of the packages, and had almost resorted to using his teeth on the juice cup, until Terri took it out of his hands and peeled the lid back. Mitch was looking frustrated, but Terri just smiled at him. "You've just had major brain surgery, Stevens. Don't expect to be able to do everything, OK? I'm sure it's really frustrating, but you'll learn it all again, it won't take too long. And once you're back on your feet under your own power, we can let you start looking at your medical texts again. And soon after that, you'll have your job back."

Mitch laughed. "I wish I shared your optimism, Sullivan. I keep feeling like I'll never be able to do stuff for myself again, and I really hate it," he had replied, before reaching out and taking the cup of juice. He managed to get it most of the way to his mouth, before his hand started shaking. "Try using your other arm as support," Terri advised, not wanting to step on her husband's toes or squash his independence by immediately assisting him, but understanding his frustration. Mitch nodded, bringing his left arm up to support his right wrist. The cup stopped shaking, and he was able to bring it properly to his mouth, taking several sips before placing it back on the tray.

"Thanks, Terri. I don't know why I didn't think of that." He grumbled. "Because you're human, and you're not supposed to be omniscient," Terri replied, smiling. Mitch reached out and pushed one finger under the cardboard flap on the cereal box, before pulling sharply. The lid came off. Well, more accurately, the top half of the box tore away. Fortunately, there was still the plastic bag. Tearing this open with more care, and a slight pinching movement, Mitch poured the cereal into the little plastic bowl, before trying to open the carton of milk.

After struggling with it for several seconds, he turned to his wife. "Sullivan? How do you open these blasted things?" Terri smiled at him. "Push the flaps back, pinch together and pull to form a spout. It can be kinda difficult, especially with hospital cartons. Use this one, I'll take that one. Mitch smiled at her. "Thanks, Terri. At least I managed to get the cereal open myself!" Terri laughed. "Well done. Cereal is a good deal easier than these crazy drink things. You'll find the butter and jam are reasonably easy, too.

Mitch sighed. "Not sure I want the toast. The cereal looks good, though. Might finish the juice after that, and then have another nap." "Now that sounds like a good morning plan," Luke said, smiling at the pair. "Did you two sleep well?" "Fairly well. Kept waking up at first every half hour to make sure I wasn't dreaming and really had a live one beside me," Terri had replied. Mitch, on the other hand, snorted. "Tried to sleep. It seemed like every time I got to sleep, someone came along wanting to check my reflexes, or do a neural exam, or something."

Luke nodded. "Well, that's not going to really change for the next couple of days," he sympathised, before adding, "don't lose hope. When you last through to Sunday morning, we'll take you down to 17. You'll probably be on half-hourly obs for the first few hours, but after that I'll see what I can do about dropping it back to two or four hourly obs, as long as nothing goes wrong." Mitch looked heartened by this news.

* * *

When the couple had finished with breakfast, and the trays had been taken away, Cara came around to do one final set of post-op obs, before Mitch was transferred to ICU. When everything was normal, Luke gave the all-clear for the various machines to be disconnected, and the drip was taken down and placed onto the bed. Because they were going to be moving, the sides of the bed were raised, before the ends of the bed were removed, and Luke and Terri started wheeling the bed towards the lifts.

Getting up to ICU should have been uneventful. Should have been, because with most patients it was. Then again, most patients weren't highly popular medical registrars; even if Mitch's latest 'community service' attempt had fallen flat on its face due to the stupidity of a vengeful relative of one of Mitch's patients. Even despite the clinic fiasco, Mitch was the hospital's 'golden-haired-boy' of general medicine, and probably always would be. He was popular with the patients, well-liked by the nursing staff, and few people had genuinely bad things to say about him. Even fewer, now that Rose had changed her tune.

Therefore, everyone they saw on the way up to ICU stopped the little procession for an update on the patient's progress, and several people called out across corridors or even across whole wards, wanting to get the group's attention. When they did make it to ICU, the nurses there were all efficiency, as usual.

Mitch's drip was hooked back up in seconds, the various machines were plugged back in, and the bed was set up as though it was meant to be a permanent fixture. Terri used the phone to let 17 know how everything was going, and that the transfer had been made smoothly, before returning to her husband's side. "Von sends her love, as does everyone else. Charlotte says we're keeping room 1 open for you, unless we get another emergency or something. I've already pointed out that you'd rather have company, but I don't know if I can convince them to move you to one of the other rooms." Mitch laughed. "Just don't let them shut the door, if I do end up in room 1. I want to see what's going on out there." He replied, smiling.

"That's a promise! I'm not letting you out of my sight, either way." Terri replied stroking one small patch of brown curls which stuck out from under the bandages around Mitch's head. "You won't get rid of me up here for a while, either. Apparently I've been banned from going in to work today, and Luke's trying to dream of an excuse to stop me going in tomorrow! Can you imagine?" "Scalpel Man has hidden depths," Mitch replied, laughing. "I wouldn't have expected him to be so masterful, but what really surprises me is that you're letting him boss you about. Unless you just needed to be given an excuse to stay by my side, in which case I may have to check you for demonic possession."

This time, he actually tried to duck the cuff aimed at the back of his neck, and instead made himself badly dizzy. "Not remotely funny, Mitchell Hamish Stevens," Terri retorted, forcibly pushing down a traitorous desire to laugh hysterically. Mitch had one hand pressed against his eyes. "Dizzy, are you? No more sudden movements, young man. Lie there and be sensible, for once in your life," she added, pressing the call button beside the bed.

"I don't think it's anything serious," Terri stated to the nurse who approached them, "he just moved his head a bit too quickly, and now he's feeling rather dizzy as a result." The nurse nodded, and soon had a couple of anti-vertigo tablets and a glass of water. "Just take these, Dr Stevens. And no more sudden movements!" the young woman said, calmly, before picking up the patient chart and making a note on it. "I'm not sure Dr Forlano's going to be happy to see this," she muttered to Terri, who calmly took the chart and added a note of her own.

"I wouldn't normally interfere with a patient's notes, but Luke knows us, and knows Mitch's sense of humour." She explained, showing the young nurse the addition, which stated that the patient had made a stupid joke, and had tried to dodge the resulting cuff to the back of the neck. "H'm. Maybe I should've just left him to suffer," the younger nurse muttered, before Terri shook her head. "You know better than that. Never ignore a patient's symptoms, no matter how much you think they deserve them. Maybe you should do a set of neural obs, just to be sure?"

The obs turned out clear, but Luke was very happy to see that addition to Mitch's chart when he came by, having been told about the incident. "Well, Dr Screwball, have you worked out not to do any more religious jokes yet?" He asked, grinning at his patient. "Well, I'm not sure about that, but I think he's learned not to do them until he can safely duck my retaliation," Terri replied. "Let a man sleep, would you?" Mitch grumbled. "What, and miss out on all the exciting beeping machines?" Terri replied. "Where's the fun in that?" "Why do you think I want to sleep? If I can get deep enough, I can just pretend the beeping machines are trucks or something and they're going to go away soon," Mitch retorted, rubbing one hand across his eyes again. "Don't feel so dizzy anymore. Wanna sleep. B'zz off."

The quietly conversing duo obediently moved away from the bed, so that they could still see Mitch, but he wouldn't be disturbed. "So far, so good, Terri. Von's promised to bring up a whole heap of paperwork for you, something about 'sharing the suffering'..." Luke was rewarded with a snort and a shove, followed by some rebellious muttering about impertinent staff members, before he continued, "Charlotte will bring Mitch patient updates on anyone who looks like a long-termer, as well as general ward gossip. Victoria is coming in, Rose has a shift today so Lucy will be in the crèche, and they should drop by at some point.

Terri smiled. "Well, that should make for a busy day. I suppose someone's got a plan for me for tomorrow as well?" "More of the same as today, I believe," Luke replied, before adding, "Rose doesn't have a shift tomorrow, but Lucy'll be in crèche anyway." Terri nodded. "Victoria mentioned something about counselling sessions. I think Rose must've run out of Lithium a couple of weeks ago, she's been almost giddy for a few days. I don't envy her the next week or o, but she'll hopefully feel better after that."

Luke nodded. "I wonder..." "What brought about the change in her attitude? Apparently staring at the perpendicular join of two walls for long periods of time is conducive to heavy thinking, and possibly even changes in one's entire attitude or outlook. If the situation weren't so serious, I might have expressed a wish that it had happened a lot sooner, but, but under the circumstances, I'll just count my blessings, instead of questioning them." Luke laughed. "You _would_ say that. Well, here's to the new and improved Rose, anyway. I wish her every happiness possible."

"We all do," said a new voice. Terri turned around, and greeted Victoria, before filling her in on what had happened so far that day. Von came in soon afterwards, and Charlotte came up a few hours later. All the while, the busy ICU worked around the group, machines buzzing and beeping, nurses taking obs and giving medication, doctors doing their rounds. A cacophonic blur of activity. Mitch woke sometimes, talking to whoever was there at the time before drifting back to sleep. Terri filled in the paperwork, wondering at how much bloody crap got accumulated by one ward, and how she could eliminate as much red-tape as possible. Rose came up during her lunch break, carrying Lucy. The pair stayed for some time, the two women discussing Mitch's prognosis and treatment, while Lucy chattered away about what she was doing in crèche.

Terri marvelled at how much had changed in such a short time. She was certain further positive change would come in the future, and she looked forward to it with baited breath.

* * *

Wow. I'm just a little exhausted. That was one of my longer efforts. Positive, or constructive feedback, is appreciated. Negative feedback will be appreciated tooo, if it is well-reasonedor justifiable. Negative feeback for the sake of negative feedback (AKA flames) will be used to roast marshmallows and sausages. (And saying 'I don't like it, but I can't say why' doesn't count as justifiable. It counts as flaming.)


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